Book of Mormon 1. Chapter 1

one

Kevin Price sighed from his seat on the bus. New York was so far from Utah. Why had he ever signed up for the Young Adults Dance Association of Utah anyway? Because Arnold Cunningham, his best friend, had told him too? And now he had been chosen as one of six performers selected to perform at a competition in New York. New. York. That was far too much pressure to put on a 22-year-old.

Arnold's company made the trip at least bearable. They watched Star Wars and Lord of the Rings on his laptop, and Kevin had become obsessed. But Arnold wasn't to blame; the bus ride was so long and boring that he would have watched anything.

Kevin's other friends, Chris Thomas, Noah Neely, Cassie Clarke, and Oliver Schrader, were laughing at something out the side of the bus, which had just pulled itself outside of the St. Regis hotel.

"Alright, gang!" Mr. Marquez, the group leader, shouted from the front of the bus, "Stand and line up, single-file. I'll go unload our luggage."

With a perturbed sigh, Kevin slammed Arnold's laptop shut and handed back to the stout boy beside him. He very much disliked Mr. Marquez- the leader had a tendency to treat the group like children. Kevin squeezed out of the bus and found his powder-blue suitcase leaning against the curb. Arnold's Star Wars roller had toppled to it's front beside it.

"Isn't this fun, best friend?" Arnold giggled, he was really just a 12-year old at heart. For the sake of his friend, Kevin feigned a smile.

"It sure is, pal. I'm really happy that we're rooming together for the next two weeks." That was at least true, he thought to himself. After a long speech by Mr. Marquez about staying safe and waking up at exactly 6:30 every morning, they were allowed to go to their rooms. Kevin and Arnold's room was room 292, on floor 3. Kevin was exhausted, but Arnold was so wound up over the sights to see and medals to win and everything in between. After about a minute of excited unpacking, there was a knock at the door. Both boys went to answer, but Mr. Marquez used his copy of the key to get in and see them. Kevin rolled his eyes- of course Mr. Marquez had an extra key.

"Boys, we're leaving for the first rehearsal in 45 minutes. I expect to see you downstairs and ready in 30." He nodded, and left. No 'how are you?' or 'are you comfortable?'. Just orders. Arnold sighed as the door slammed shut.

"But what about the sights?" He whined, "I wanna see the Statue of Liberty!"

"Aw, buck up pal," Kevin smiled half-heartedly, "We'll see the sights soon, I promise. I'm gonna change." He reached into the bottom drawer of his half of the chest and pulled out some black sweatpants and a red t-shirt. He changed, then Arnold changed, then they packed their backpacks with water and tylenol and went to the lobby.

Arriving at the community center where the competition was taking place felt like a godsend to Kevin. Travel had a tendency to wear him out. The small group walked, seemingly lost, through the labyrinthine halls.

"Excuse me," A voice called from somewhere behind them, "Are you looking for registration? It's this way."

The group collectively turned around to see a short young woman, maybe in her late twenties, clutching a clipboard and pointing to a hallway that they had just passed. Mr. Marquez hurriedly lead the group down the hallway, following the woman. They passed different hallways and doors and finally arrived at a long table covered in a purple cloth.

"Uh, yeah. YADAU, checking in for rehearsal." The leader fumbled with his words, scratching at his jaw. The man at the table wrote a few things down, flipped through some papers, and finally looked up at the group.

"You're good to go," He said, "The auditorium is down that hallway to your left. I think there's one other group rehearsing right now, but you can share the space." The man looked back down at the desk, obviously expecting them to leave. Mr. Marquez and the group followed his instructions. Arnold was excitedly whispering, but Kevin tuned him out- not because he wasn't interested, but because he could hear music from what he assumed to be the auditorium.

Mr. Marquez and Oliver pushed open the double doors to the auditorium. It was massive and beautiful- red carpet, red velvet seats with gold trim, angelic pictures painted on the walls. There were pink and purple lights shining onto the stage, more specifically onto a boy performing an intricate tap routine in a sparkly pink vest. A red feather boa was wrapped around his neck. His red hair flew in every direction, and he was sweating hard. He had the biggest smile on his face. Kevin was enamoured immediately.

"Okay, take a seat anywhere or start rolling out. I'm going to find the leader of this troupe and see if we can practice here." Mr. Marquez whispered. Kevin sat down in the seat second closest to the aisle waiting for Arnold to sit beside him, but the tubby boy remained standing. He appeared to be staring down the aisle. Kevin stood up to see that he was looking at a small, petite girl with lovely dark skin and brown ringlets. Her mouth was wide open and she seemed to be laughing at something.

"Uh, buddy?" Kevin tapped on Arnold's shoulder. "You wanna sit down?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Arnold shook himself out of his fog and sat down with Kevin. "I wonder who that girl is," He commented.

Kevin chuckled. "I don't know, pal. Why don't you go talk to her?" He suggested. Arnold's face lit up.

"You think I should?"

"Yeah, why not?" Kevin shrugged. Arnold took a few heaving breaths and bounded down the aisle, sitting a few seats away from the girl and her friends. Kevin smiled- Arnold had never looked at anyone the way he had just looked at the girl.

The music finished, and the boy on stage jumped off into the crowd, sitting a few rows ahead of Kevin. Without really thinking, Kevin moved to the row just behind him as he pulled off the vest. Kevin tapped him on the shoulder, and he whipped around to stare at him with a pair of entrancing blue eyes.

"That was, uh… That was really good," Kevin complimented. The boy's face lit up with a smile.

"Thanks! I'm glad you liked it." He exclaimed. The conversation lulled.

"Do you wanna sit here?" The boy patted the seat next to him. Kevin breathed a sigh of relief- he wasn't being creepy. "Sure." He grabbed his things and moved to sit next to him by jumping over the seat. The boy laughed.

"Smooth moves. I'm Connor." He introduced himself.

"I'm Kevin," Kevin responded.

"Well Kevin, it's nice to meet you. Where are you from?"

"Utah. How about you?"

"Nebraska, actually."

"Oh cool," Kevin said, slightly shocked. Connor didn't seem Nebraskan, but what does Nebraskan even look like?

"So, I do tap, obviously. What do you do?" Connor asked, keeping the conversation alive.

"I actually do the Rumba," Kevin chuckled. Connor suppressed a smile. "I know. It's me and this girl in my troupe, Cassie. We have our own stuff on the side, though, like how she does ballet and I do jazz."

"Oh, jazz. Cool," Connor let his smile through. "What's your group number?"

"It's a lyrical. How about you?"

"I don't know if it's Musical Theatre or tap," Connor replied honestly.

Mr. Marquez appeared down the aisle, gesturing for Kevin to go to him.

"I have to go, but… I'll see you in a bit?" Kevin asked, grabbing his bag and standing to go. Connor gave a thumbs up. Kevin took that as a sign to bolt down the aisle- something about Connor made his heart need to run. He screeched to a halt in front of Mr. Marquez, his toes lifting off of the ground.

"We got the go-ahead to practice here," Mr. Marquez explained, "So you and Cassie are up first."

Kevin walked over to the foot of the stage where Cassie was sitting, tugging on a pair of soft black dance slippers. She wore a purple sports bra and a dark red skirt. Her hair was pulled into a smart ponytail.

"Hey, partner," She grinned, grunting as the shoe finally slid onto her foot.

"Hey," Kevin smiled back, "Having some trouble?"

"Heh, nah. Just a little tight is all," She smiled, pointing and flexing her toes before standing up and hoisting herself onto the stage. "Ready?"

Kevin followed her onto the stage. "Yup."

They got into their starting position, and 'Not Going To Give You Up' by Gloria Estefan began to play, booming through the theatre. Kevin and Cassie moved around the stage, their choreography burned into their memories. The end of the song was approaching, and Cassie backed up to leap. Kevin was supposed to catch her. Instead he found himself staring into the theatre, engrossed by a few shocks of red hair hanging over a pair of bright blue eyes. He heard everyone on his team calling to him a second too late. Cassie soared towards him, her shoulder slamming into his chest. The two of them toppled to the ground. The music stopped.

"What the hell was that?" Mr. Marquez screamed, stomping onto the stage. His face was red. "Kevin, why didn't you catch her? That's the choreography, not falling down!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" Kevin tried to apologize, but was cut off.

"I don't care! Both of you, off of this stage. Now." Mr. Marquez demanded. Kevin jumped off and waited for Cassie, who was alternating between rubbing her shoulder and wincing in pain.

"Cassie, I'm sorry." Kevin said sincerely.

"It's fine Kevin," She smiled, and Kevin knew that she was saving face. She'd never done well with embarrassment, though she didn't have anything to be embarrassed about- Kevin was the one who had screwed up.

"I know. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," She grinned, and the two hugged. Kevin gave a genuine smile as she walked away.

With a huff, he went back to sit with Connor.

"Hey," Connor said with an apologetic smile, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Kevin plopped down in the chair, "but Cassie hurt her shoulder. Damn it all."

"I'm sure it was an accident," Connor assured, "what were you so distracted by?"

Kevin couldn't possibly say that Connor had been his distraction. "It was just the lights, I think." The lie tasted sour on his tongue. Connor nodded and turned his attention to the stage. A Katy Perry song started playing, and the girl that Arnold had gone to sit with was now dancing rhythmically. Kevin looked down to where arnold was- he was captivated.

"That's Nabulungi Hatimbi," Connor whispered, leaning over the armrest and into Kevin's personal space, "She's from the Africa team. She's really good." His eyes turned down.

"Hey, I don't think she's that good," Kevin saw the change in the redhead's expression, "I think you're better."

Connor turned into a kid in a candy store. "Really?"

"Yeah," Kevin smiled. Connor put an arm around Kevin and hugged him.


	2. Chapter 2

two.

The days were long, but the nights were longer. After the first day of rehearsals, Connor invited Kevin and his crew back to the green room, where the Nebraska Performers had set up. It was two floors down, almost in the basement, but it was cool and dark and all-around comfortable after the long day of dancing and medical examination, mostly thanks to Kevin's momentary lapse in judgement earlier in the day. The Nebraska Performers were made up of James Church, Eddie Michaels, Ben Zelder, Dan Davis and, of course, Connor McKinley.

Kevin laid down on one of the benches, shoving his sweatshirt under his head. In the mirror close to his right, he could see Connor, Arnold, and both troupes playing a game of Uno. He had wanted to join, but in all honesty he just plain didn't know how. He shut his eyes to try and escape today's chagrin- first injuring Cassie, then stuttering like a fool around Connor, and now he couldn't even play a game of Uno? He felt pathetic.

A sudden knocking came from the giant metal doors. Confused, Connor stood up to get it. Just outside was Nabulungi. She waved her phone in the air.

"A-Arnold texted me," she chuckled shyly. All eyes were on Arnold now, who was staring at his lap.

"She said she was bored," He muttered the explanation. Chris gave him a little slap on the shoulder.

"You can't just invite anyone!" He exclaimed, then turned to the girl in the doorway. "No offence."

"Well, come on in Nabulungi!" Connor welcomed. That was just one of the many things that Kevin admired about him- he was warm and welcoming. No matter who he was talking to, he always spoke kindly and affectionately. Nabulungi thanked Connor and sat down next to Arnold.

"What are we playing?" She asked timidly.

"Uno," Noah explained, "Do you know how to play?"

Nabulungi shook her head slowly.

"Why don't we teach you?" Dan offered. Nabulungi's face lit up with excitement. Kevin took this as an opportunity to slide into the game, learning alongside Nabulungi. Eventually Oliver ran out of cards, effectively winning the game.

"What should we do now?" Cassie asked the group. Everyone shrugged. Connor seemed to be smirking.

"What are you so smug about?" Ben questioned, leaning closer to him. Connor just reached into his bag and pulled out a mid-sized box. The Nebraska Performers burst into cheers.

"What is that?" Oliver pointed to the box. Connor turned it around dramatically. On the front was printed 'MEDIUM ELECTRIC VIDEO PROJECTOR'.

"It's tradition," Ben explained, "Every time we travel, we bring along the projector so that we aren't bored to death."

Everyone began to cheer again. Connor and Arnold set the projector up while Nabulungi found a large white sheet with the props and got help from Eddie hanging it up over the mirrored wall. Technical difficulties over with, Connor pulled out an array of musical movies, The Phantom of The Opera, RENT, and Anything Goes.

Kevin's nose scrunched. He had never been a real fan of musicals, but he guessed if Connor liked them…

Everyone seemed to agree on Anything Goes, so Dan flicked off the lights and turned on the movie. Everyone snuggled themselves against the back wall, leaving Kevin pressed right up against Connor. The shorter boy smiled at him as the movie began.

As the filmed rolled on, everyone spread themselves out, eventually finding their spaces. Most people slayed themselves out on their stomachs to watch, Nabulungi and Arnold had hidden themselves away in a back corner, and Connor was still leaning on Kevin halfway through. He was almost asleep, beginning to snore on Kevin's shoulder, but jerked awake when music began. It was like the song and dance had a magical effect on him, pulling his eyes open and tugging his head towards the screen. Kevin felt like he was watching Connor the same way that Connor was watching the screen- completely in love.

The movie ended and the Nebraska Performers burst into applause.

"Well, what did you think?" Eddie asked, turning the projector off.

"It was good," Arnold grinned. The Utah Dancers instantly began chatting with each other about the movie, about how the numbers were spectacular and jazzy and the Nebraska Performers were going on about wow, Connor, this is going to be great. Kevin wasn't exactly sure what they meant by that, but he figured that as long as he smiled and nodded along it wouldn't matter.

For a while after, they all sat in that post-movie limbo in which activity was void. They chatted softly and laid on the floor on yoga mats found in the back by Chris and James. A few of them participated in a game of 'I packed in my suitcase' until Arnold muttered the two magic words.

"I'm bored!" He drawled, rolling onto his back and staring at the roof.

"Thank God, someone said it.". Cassie yawned. Everyone muttered in agreement. Connor huffed.

"Well, what should we do?"

Everyone thought for a few moments before Oliver spoke. "Well, I have an idea…"

And that, Kevin would say years later, was how his first night in New York was set into motion. Oliver did a quick bit of research on his phone and then dragged everyone outside, managed to hail three cabs (at once!) and directed everyone to a place called McSorleys tap house.

Everything in the club was bright and loud and stuffy and just generally too much for Kevin. He didn't like the drinks, weird people kept grinding on him and he could barely hear himself think, but his friends were having fun and he didn't want to bother them. Most people had disappeared to the dance floor, leaving only Kevin, Arnold, Nabulungi, Connor and Ben at the table that they had grabbed not 15 minutes earlier. Ben was texting someone, Arnold and Nabu were being their adorable selves by doing that thing where they got real close (booping on noses, hand on hand on the table) and then pulled away from each other when they got too shy. Connor seemed to be staring into space.

"You okay?" Kevin asked Connor, though he didn't seem to be listening.

"I'm going to get another drink. Do you guys want anything?" Nabu asked, shimmying out of the booth. There was a collective 'no', and as she walked away everyone stared at the centre of the table, seemingly lost without a conversation. Kevin's mind began to wander- he was in New York at a bar with his best friend, two incredibly nice new friends and a boy that he found himself slowly falling in love with. Back home, his high school's four year reunion would be happening, and had he been back there he would have probably asked Jenna Hineman to dance because they had gone out for about a week in junior year, or hidden in the bathroom until he found an opportune time to slip out. He prefered his current situation.

"Uh-oh," Arnold's face adopted a look of sheer panic, and Kevin abandoned his thoughts for the moment.

"What is it?" He asked, the worry all too apparent in his voice. Arnold nodded his head towards the bar and everyone turned around to look. Three greasy guys had cornered Nabulungi against the bar, and the people around were too intoxicated to respond to her cries for help.

"Shit," The brunette uttered, standing from the table and walking over. Everyone else cried out in protest, but didn't move.

"Hey, leave her alone." Kevin demanded as he approached the bustling counter. One of the guys towered over Kevin with a grimace.

"Or what?" He growled. God, Kevin thought, that's such a cheesy thing to say. But there was no time for that, there was only time to be the hero. He swung his arm ahead of his, surging forward in a punch, but the man caught his fist movie-style. His two buddies held Kevin's arms behind his back. Before the first punch could be delivered, he looked at Nabulungi and mouthed 'run', which, thankfully, she did. The relief of her safety was short lived, though, as Kevin's jaw swung to the left. Then, everything was dark.


	3. Chapter 3

three.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Kevin's consciousness returned to him in a series of beeps. With every beep, one of his other senses slowly regained function until he found the strength to open his eyes. His subconscious suspicions had been confirmed- he was in a sterile white room with an I.V dripping out of his arm. He wasn't exactly sure why; he had only been out a few minutes… Right?

A nurse in playful blue scrubs entered. "Ah, Mr. Price," She grinned, flicking her blonde ponytail, "Do you know where you are?"

"Not exactly," Kevin responded, "I mean, I know I'm in New York. I remember everything. I just don't know what hospital I'm at."

"You're at Gracie Square," The nurse responded. She had a certain atmosphere that was all-around too kind, a personality that took Kevin far back into his childhood. "I'm nurse Annie. I understand you were in a fight, Mr. Price. You have a busted lip and a concussion, and you are dehydrated, hence the I.V," She said, pointing to the half-full bag perched on the metal bar above Kevin's head.

"Kevin. Call me Kevin, please." Kevin insisted; he hated being called 'mr'. "Uh, nurse Annie?" He called before she could leave, "What time is it?"

Nurse Annie glanced at the clock on the wall, the one that Kevin couldn't read. "It's about 2:30 AM, Kevin." She smiled blithely and left. Kevin reached a hand up to gingerly touch his jaw. He instantly winced. There was obviously a bruise there. Despite how much he hated hospitals, the sounds from just outside his room comforted him; soft chatter and the occasional bing-bong of a door being opened. He lied there for a few more moments, waiting for Nurse Annie to come back, which she eventually did.

"Kevin, there are some people here to see you." She smiled lightly. Kevin sat a little more upright.

"Who?" He asked, slightly afraid that Arnold had called his parents, and that his mother and father would burst into the room any moment, chastising him for fighting and dragging him back to Utah.

Nurse Annie gazed at her clipboard. "Uh, Arnold, Nabulungi and Connor." She read the names off of the list. Kevin's heart slowed down. His parents weren't there.

"Yeah, send them in please." He exhaled, sliding back down on the bed. Nurse Annie nodded her head and left, returning a few seconds later with three people in tow. She went to Kevin's bedside to take his vitals while his three companions settled themselves around the room. It was obvious that none of them had slept.

"It's not technically visiting hours, but you can stay if you'd like." She offered, finished her work on Kevin, then left. Nabulungi took her place at Kevin's bedside, gingerly taking his hand.

"Kevin…. Thank you so much for saving me. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't help." She muttered, choking up, "And I'm sorry. This is my fault."

"Don't worry about it, Nabu," Kevin smiled, squeezing her hand, "it was an honour to defend you." He finished dramatically. He expected Arnold to jump up and put a protective arm around the girl clutching his hand, but no such event took place, much to Kevin's relief. In fact, the tubby boy seemed to be asleep in his chair. Connor came around the other side of the bed and put a small pot of orange flowers on the bedside table.

"Arnold said orange was your favourite color." He laughed weakly, raking a hand through his flames. "It's super cheesy, but… I felt bad not getting you anything."

"They're great." Kevin leered, "Thanks Connor."

The older boy put his hand on Kevin's head, his fingers mixing with his hair. It was a pleasant sensation, and the two boys gazed at each other for an interminable amount of time. Kevin felt slightly guilty- he had only just met this incredibly handsome, energetic, fantastic boy from Nebraska and already he felt what could only be described as love.

He was released from Gracie Square hospital at exactly 6:37 AM the next day, and Connor hailed a cab to take them all back to the St. Regis. They didn't have rehearsal until late afternoon, so they figured some shut-eye was in order.

With the exception of Kevin's chronic migraine, courtesy of his concussion, the next day passed by uneventfully. The only real event that was worth remembering to Kevin was the following night, when he and Connor were sitting alone in Connor's room, on his bed. Apparently, the redhead's parents had scraped up just enough money to get him a single room for the trip. They sat together, just talking about anything that came to mind.

"What do you make of homosexuality?" Connor asked out of the blue, avoiding Kevin's now slightly surprised and flustered gaze.

"What? Why would you ask that?" kevin tried to cover the break in his voice with a chuckle.

"I just… Answer the question, okay?" Connor was suddenly becoming defensive.

"Well, to be honest… I'm gay." Kevin admitted, slightly proud of himself- his troupe knew, his family knew, and now Connor knew. He was opening up.

Connor's gaze snap-connected to Kevin's. "R-really?" His voice was high, a tone that slightly hurt Kevin's head, "well, uh, I am too."

The silence that ensued was populated by each of the boys gazing around, trying to make of all of this. Eventually, Connor coughed and began to speak.

"You know, Kevin," His voice took on a new tone, a sultry octave beneath his usual voice, "you're very attractive."

Oh my GOD, Kevin thought, is he FLIRTING with me? He cleared his throat, trying to appear macho. "Yeah well, uh, you are too." He tried to mimic Connor's fluttering eyes, but assumed he just looked like he was having some sort of attack.

Connor moved in closer until the two boys were inches apart. Suddenly, it happened, Kevin couldn't remember moving in, or seeing Connor move in, it was as if the space between them had simply been… Erased. It was pure electricity.

"Kevin," Connor moaned quietly, "you can have whatever you want."

The kiss, of course, escalated from there, and they attempted to shift on the bed into a more comfortable position. Before he could fully immerse himself in the wonderful world that was Connor, Kevin questioned himself. He had only just met Connor a few days ago, and had only come out to him a few minutes ago. But the straining in his body demanded attention, and he shoved his questions to the back of his head.

He guessed anything was possible in New York.


End file.

Book of Mormon, Friendship, Romance